Coming back to class after break was, bluntly, only slightly surreal. The return to structure and studying was not unwelcome, however, but some of the point of it all felt a little blurred around the edges with the anticipation of life changes and new perspectives. It was necessary and distracting all at once. For Nauleth it was, unfortunately, only slightly more difficult to stay focused when studying with Athrym.

The dark-eyed boy had at least chosen a table and collection of chairs in a more secluded section of the rather exhaustively large Library, scattering said table with a collection of books (only a few of them dusty) for a bit of research on another of Golightly's unusual projects. He'd, for the most part, been paying attention; only occasionally had his focus strayed, gaze falling rather wistfully on the blonde before his thoughts wandered and he had to snap himself back into the monite on the pages in his lap.

It was after one such moment, already having jerked his head back down towards a book, fingers listless on the page, that he coughed and shifted in his seat. His voice felt muffled in the quiet, isolated corner, separated by several rows of old books from the next set of tables and students,

"So, we'll have quite a break between semesters ..." Naul ventured off-topic with a smile, voice trailing as he waited to see if the change in subject was welcome or not.

Athrym rested one elbow on the table, eyes flicking across the monite in front of her, fingers straying to a lock of hair as she read. It was a bad habit, but since meeting with her parents, the blonde had begun hair nibbling again, taking the lock to her lips and chewing on the end of it absentmindedly. She had seen Nauleth's wandering gaze, and each time her blue eyes flicked up from the grimore with a little smirk and a slight blush. The girl could almost read his thoughts, as they were about the same as hers. Since being back in the old school, Athrym had found herself missing the privacy of Vienda. It felt odd, being under the matrons thumbs again. At least, she thought to herself, its not going to be for that long.




Looking up at the boy, Athrym took the white blonde lock from her lips and tucked back her steadily growing fringe. It was such an unintentionally loaded comment, that she couldn't help but grin.

"Thats very true. A lot of free time." She said quite matter of factly, smiling all the while.

"Then again, it's anytime soon, unfortunately." He smirked, wrestling for some sense of practicality with limited success. At least neither of their parents had been entirely opposed to their request to marry before graduation. It was, of course, just finding the right time. Sooner was happily preferred over later. Especially now, it seemed.

Naul was uncomfortable by the pressing sense of urgency Freja had seemingly purposefully implanted in his thought process after their meeting. It was a disquieting thought, even if he hadn't quite come to understand what the Hoxian woman could possibly have meant. Things hadn't changed in years. Why would they change now?

The boy kept his expression from souring at the thought, offering a sly grin instead, "I seem to have lost my motivation to study over break. I thought for sure I'd be a bit more motivated instead."

He teased, chuckling with a roll of his eyes, "Not that research for Golightly is always exciting or anything ... "

Laughing a little, the girl crossed her arms on the table and shook her head.

"Strange, I seem to have lost the motivation too. It all seems so...time consuming." Grinning, she leaned back in her chair with a sigh.

"I don't mind Golightly's classes, but clocking hell, some of these tasks he gives are bizarre. The Professor has quite an unusual mind." That was putting it lightly.

"So, Mister Siordanti, what would you prefer to be doing if not studying? I thought our union was going to be better academically as well as personally. At least, isn't that what we said to my mother?" Her voice was playful and an eyebrow raised slightly, as though he'd been caught in a lie.

"Well, are we married yet? No." Naul snickered playfully, making a face as he folded the corner of the page of the book he was looking at before shutting it, fingers lacing together over the cover, "Therefore, I'm perfectly justified in my ... distraction."

He grinned, still taunting a little though his voice was quiet, "I'm sure I could think of a few things I'd rather be doing, but all of them would probably not be to the benefit of furthering either of our studies."

"For class, anyway."

Athrym turned a deep shade of pink as he spoke, grinning stupidly. As he closed the book, she moved closer to the boy, biting her lip. It was so quiet here, almost secluded. Surely one little kiss wouldn't matter? Besides, they had kissed on the school grounds - and then some - it wasn't anything new.

Well...it was new, in a secret way it held new promises. But it was, to anyone else, just an innocent kiss.

"You are incorrigible Nauleth." She said softly, before lifting a hand to his cheek and pulling him closer for a soft, satisfying kiss. Sighing gently, she realized that she'd missed this. And it had only been a few days. Pushing her hand further into his hair, the blonde deepened the kiss, the thrill of pleasures known and remembered dancing up her spine.

"Me?" Naul mumbled, laughing against the blonde's lips, only slightly chagrined given their current location—in the clocking Library. His tone had turned suggestively smug, "Don't blame me. We were studying just fine. It's not my fault some disciplines have suddenly become less exciting than others ..."

He returned her kiss warmly, lingering a bit longer than was definitely proper (not that anything in the past few moments had been even in the vicinity of proper, anyway) before leaning away, grinning as he tilted his head into her hand, suddenly grateful for the book in his lap. The secluded stacks of books and study corners were a little enticing, but he'd hardly the interest in being sighted by a librarian in their current non-academic activities.

"I'm not the one switching subjects, either."

Athrym chuckled, raising an eyebrow.

"Changing subjects? Me? Hardly how I saw it. But thats quite alright," Making a sort of 'oh well' kind of face, she withdrew her hand and opened the grimoire.

"If you want to study, we can study. I find Golightly's theory of electromagnetic relation with the mona and all matter around it rather fascinating. I'm sure, if you look at that in relation to the problem on page eighteen of our texts, you would clearly see that if used correctly, it could very easily boost the productive power of even the simplest spell by up to at least fifteen percent." Pausing, she tapped her chin thoughtfully, frowning into the nothing over Nauls head.

"I wonder if thats how the Gioran's do it. Perhaps there is something in the canyon peaks that intensifies their magic. Electromagnetic energy or maybe static energy? Unless it works on the fact that your echoing your spell throughout the rocky walls, effectively casting the same spell over and over in rapid succession...hmmm..." Her words trailed off as she appeared to think about it more, crossing her legs and leaning on the table.

Naul pouted, making sure the deepening dissatisfaction in his expression was as comically obvious as possible while Athrym rambled on about their studies. He sighed and shifted in his seat, not bothering to open the book even after she was done speaking. Setting the book on the empty chair next to him on top of his small pile of books, he slid forward in his seat, resting his elbows on the table and adding with a coy tone of mock-sternness, "I never said i minded the change in subject matter, lover."

He didn't pause for effect, sliding confidently into another sentence as if he'd said nothing at all,

"However," the dark-eyed boy smirked, still attempting to keep up as serious a facade as possible, though he leaned close enough and his tone of voice was closer to something opposite, "If you'd prefer to continue a more academic discussion, I'd say we've both witnessed the use of repetition in spells such as those modifications of Soundwave, so it's safe to assume that perhaps the echoes have a similar effect."

Sighing and setting his chin into his palms, Naul continued, bottom lip still stubbornly pouting, "Really, all matter is subject to the will of the mona, anyway. So, who can really be sure if it's repetition alone that makes the difference?"

The blonde girl found herself turning a deep scarlet, eyes widening slightly and mouth falling open a little. It was so cheeky, she wanted to slap him almost. Mostly she wanted to giggle and live up to the comment, but they were in school, after all.



Shaking off her shock with a smirk, the blonde's fingers strayed back to her hair, pulling the end of a pale lock into her mouth and nibbling the end.

"Perhaps the repetition does something to the mona? Perhaps its like a...a push. Instead of asking, your forcing them? No, thats not it, then you would just make them upset and brail." Frowning, she stared into space for a moment.

"I think its the repetition, but its something about the monite. Maybe...perhaps...if they..." Eyebrows pulling together further, she huffed.

"I don't clocking know."

At these last words, Nauleth became dimly aware of a strange sensation in his trousers. This was hardly an unusual occurrence around Athrym, but instead of the usual, it was a painful, pinching sensation. He realized after a moment that the stone in his pocket had been growing hotter by the second. It was a gradual realization, probably designed not to startle him.

Deep inside his mind he felt a queer clicking, and realized that someone was trying to contact him.

Naul's facial expression faltered noticeably from warmly expectant to sudden surprise. He shifted, careful to hide his discomfort, and struggled to find an excuse to wander the stacks of books for a moment. With a cough, the dark-eyed boy held up a hand, pointing tauntingly at the blonde,

"You know," his voice wavered audibly, though he wasn't entirely lying—yet, "there might be a book or two that could illuminate this discussion. So, hold that thought and let me go see if I can find them. There might be something about repetition in the theory book on that chair ..."

With that he stood, grinning with mysterious awkwardness, and wandered off, desperately hoping to not be followed. Once he figured he was far enough out of earshot, he rummaged through his pocket for the stone, making sure to duck into the nearest unoccupied row of dusty old books, hissing at the warmth of the thing and the realization that his time was no longer entirely his own. For a moment, he just stared at the thing, hoping it worked just like any other Seer stone, before focusing on it and whispering uncomfortably,

"Sorry. I was, er, studying."

A low voice, made thin and reedy by the distance of the spell, replied.

"Come to the Astronomy tower at once," it said. It was Professor Lux's voice, without a doubt - slightly hissy and sharp with the strange Hoxian accent.

Naul scowled at the thing in his hands as if Freja could actually see his face. Surely the woman didn't expect him to just ... damn it all—she so did.

"Look, I can't just—" He bit his lip, trying to think of excuses, fumbling for his pocket watch with his other hand, "You'll have to give me a moment to get out of things. I can't just disappear from the Library and my ... study partner ..." He didn't really want to wait for a response, only a little intimidated by the Professor's potential wrath,

"Let me grab my things and think of something to say. I will be right there."

The boy closed his fingers around the stone and sighed. This would be ... uncomfortable. Leaning his head back against the stack of books, he opened his pocket watch and glared at the time, wheels turning for a potential reason to leave. To leave alone.

Athrym watched Naul with confusion, knowing the boy well enough to catch the look on his face.

"Nauleth? It's not that important. Naul?" She pushed her hair out of her face as the boy dissapeared.

"Well...alright then." The blonde said to herself, perplexed by his over eager approach to the repetition question. The girl wasn't really that interested in it, there were other things on her mind. The question had just been more of an exterior thought process. Sitting back, she let her fringe fall across her eye, lacing her fingers together and waiting for the salt and peppered hair youth to return.

Naul shoved the stone frustratedly back into his pocket, turning his watch over and over again in his hand once he closed the cover. Willing his expression into something more disappointed than disturbed, he wandered back to the collection of chairs and table where Athrym was perplexedly waiting.

"Hey, so, uh, someone must've checked out those books already." He scowled, bordering on the apologetic. His dark eyes strayed to his bag before he flopped into the seat next to the blonde, leaning on the arm of the chair so he was close to her, still frowning.

"I'm going to have to cut our studying ... um ... a little short." He bit his lip, unable to control the waver in his voice for a moment, "I totally forgot I've got a er, well, a Quantitative thing. A study session. Soon. I should probably go to that." Nauleth couldn't quite contain the apprehension in his field, "Can we pick up where we left off later?"

His grin was nervously mischievous, knuckles white around the pocket watch held in his left hand, face close, unwilling to jump up and flee just yet, "Whichever subject, of course."

Athrym blinked, silent for a moment, looking at the boy with a slightly confused expression. She could sense the jitteryness in his field, and the waver in his voice. Something was bothering the youth. Pursing her lips a little, the blonde crossed her arms.

"I thought you were coming along better in quantitative. Surely better than having to do study sessions after dinner for Alioe's sake." Pouting now, Athrym sighed.

"It's obviously important to you, and it wouldn't look good for us if we started falling behind in our studies now. Clocks, I know! Why don't I just come with you? Surely the Professor wouldn't mind." The blue eyed girl smiled again, pleased with herself for the sudden idea. Leaning closer to the boy, she grinned wickedly.

"Then we can just pick up where we left off."

Naul swallowed hard, despite their proximity, visibly paling, "Er. Come with me? N-nah. It'd be boring. It's not really extra studying, per se. I, uh ..." his head spun, trying to think of anything to say, any possible excuse, that could both include himself and yet definitely exclude Athrym. Oh, it was so hard. He bit his lip before continuing,

"It's more like an opportunity to tutor. While the professor may not mind, it's probably better I show up by myself. More professional that way and all." He spoke a little quickly, nervous now, though one hand had strayed to her thigh, "I can always find you later."

As an act of desperation to seal the deal of his hasty retreat, he kissed her with genuine warmth—he was honestly reluctant to leave. His hands roamed a little, lingering before leaning away, sliding toward his satchel and books, adding with a roll of his eyes, "It'd be clocking boring. You don't want to come, anyway. It won't be long, so you won't even have time to miss me."

The dark-eyed boy laughed, a mixture of something teasing and anxious, "I'll make it up to you, anyway."

"Oh." Athrym said, pausing her hand as it reached for her grimoire. Placing it in her lap, the blonde pouted a little, unhappy with this development. She glanced down at the hand on her thigh, before raising an eyebrow at him. Quite out of the blue, he kissed her, and the girl found herself practically melting. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she settled into the kiss, before he broke it off again. Cheeks flushed, Athrym smirked reluctantly, unable to stay grumpy after that.



Chuckling a little, the girl waved her hand in a dismissive motion.

"You clocking better, or I'll come hunt you down. Go on, hurry up then, Mister Tutor."

Nauleth laughed, just as much a release of tension as it was a sign of amusement. Snatching up his things, he snatched up his things, shoving whatever fit into his satchel against the rain and carrying the rest. Still, he lingered rebelliously a few moments more, planting another equally rebellious kiss on the blonde, despite the gnawing at the back of his mind that Professor Lux would probably be annoyed enough with his tardiness.

"Don't worry. You won't need to hunt me down unless you want to."

With a strangely reluctant grin, he turned and fled. His walk was brisk through the shelves of books and out of the library, steadily increasing in pace as he dipped into the rain and towards the Observatory.

He was warmed by the reasonable measure of success for his escape. This time. Would it work every time the Hoxian woman decided to call on him? What if he wasn't in such a tame situation? Oh gods, the boy didn't really want to think about that just yet ...

Returning the kiss warmly, Athrym watched him go, her platinum blonde fringe obscuring part of her view. As he dissapeared, her half smile faded and her ice blue eyes narrowed. The taste of magic still hung in the air, scrying magic. She hadn't wanted to say anything to the boy, unwilling to be the suspicious girlfriend, but she could sense the after effects in his quivering field. Why would he be scrying? More to the point, why would he hide from her to do it?

Shutting her grimoire, she proceeded to pack her things at a sedate pace, picking up her bag and leaving the library, gliding almost, eyes a challenge to anyone to get in her way. Making her way outside, she stuck to the pathways and halls, avoiding the steady downpour. Reaching the girl's dorms, she made her way upstairs, pausing for a moment, thinking to visit Alisoina. She wanted to talk, but then again, what if Naul came to find her and she wasn't there? Frowning, she scoffed, jealous girlfriend but worried that he can't find her...

Ignoring her inner critic, she continued onto her own room, pushing open the door and lighting a lamp in the dark. Throwing her satchel onto the desk chair, the blonde sat on the edge of her bed, looking out the rain streaked window, her mood as dark as the cloud swollen night sky. Vaguely, her temple ached.